Electrical Union Says No To Offer, Will Strike

Dominion Says Walkout Won't Affect Customers

Dominion's largest employee union said Thursday night it would go on strike at noon today, rejecting what the company said was its final offer after six months of negotiations between the two sides.

The leadership of Local 50 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents 3,700 workers - including 1,000 in Hampton Roads - said the union could not abide Dominion's last offer.

"They backed us into a corner here," said Brad Stevens, a senior business representative at the union. "We were still committed to sitting down at the table and reaching a fair and equitable solution, but the company said, 'We're finished, we're done, that's all there is.'"

The only alternative, Stevens said, was to walk.

The union, which includes technicians, operators and system maintenance staff, voted by a 9-1 margin last week to authorize union heads to call a strike. The leadership decision came after another set of talks on Thursday between the two sides. A federal mediator was involved in the negotiations for the last several weeks.

Dominion said it was "extremely disappointed" in the union leadership's decision not to accept its contract offer even after it said it had made several concessions in the last week.

"We worked long and hard to address issues that the union told us were important while achieving a balance among their needs, the company and Dominion's other union and non-union employees," Edgar M. Roach Jr., Dominion's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

One of the major sticking points in negotiations was the company's pension plan.

Both sides said the negotiations were cordial and professional, even in the tense Thursday session in Richmond. But when push came to shove, the two sides simply continued to disagree.

"These people that are taking this action are our friends and co-workers," said Dominion spokesman Jim Norvelle.

Dominion has about 13,000 workers who are not members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Norvelle said.

Dominion vows that none of Virginia Power's 2 million power customers will lose electricity as a result of the strike. Norvelle said the company has been well prepared for months with a contingency plan in case the union should go on strike. While Norvelle was talking from his Richmond office, the lights went out. He said it had nothing to do with the strike but with a timer on the building's lighting system.

The power company's contingency plan involves having supervisors and salaried staff doing the work of the union members. In the case of a severe storm that could raise the need for repair work, Dominion said it has plans in place to bring in workers from other utility companies and outside contracting companies.

No law in Virginia bans utility workers from striking, but the state is authorized to come in and run the power company if the state's power supply is threatened. Dominion wrote a letter to the state saying it was fully prepared for the strike and that customers would not be affected.

The 3,700 workers that Local 50 represents in Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia include control-room operators, electricians, mechanics and welders at power stations - including the Yorktown power station and Surry Nuclear Power Station.

The union also includes linemen, mechanics, electricians and meter readers on the distribution side of the business. Some of those employees work out of offices in Hampton, Williamsburg, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.

WAVY TV-10 contributed to this report

Peter Dujardin can be reached at 247-4749 or by e-mail at pdujardin@dailypress.com